CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY) – Gov. Justice provided clarification that, while he continues to urge landlords to cease evictions throughout the duration of the pandemic, he is not legally able to force landlords to stop evicting people if they choose to do so.
“I can tell you my personal feelings, I can plead with our landlords to please not evict people, but I cannot make them do that,” Gov. Justice said. “Now, there may be governors out there in other states that have that authority. I do not. But our Supreme Court could possibly act on this and halt those actions if they chose to do so and President Trump gave some relief under his executive order which directed the CDC to temporarily halt evictions through the end of the year. But it all takes cooperation.”